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David and Goliath: Sunday School Lesson
Dive into one of the most known tales from the book of 1 Samuel – David and Goliath! This kid’s lesson is brought to life with cool music, playful jokes, and fun challenges. Ever thought of defending with the last item you bought? Read on for some laughs and fun surprises! We’ll explore how faith in God can topple the biggest of giants. Dive into David’s legendary story and learn the power of trusting God to fight your battles.
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Group Worship
This Little Light
In this song, kids are taught to proudly show their goodness and faith to the world, just like letting a small light shine brightly without hiding it. It encourages children to be confident in their beliefs and to spread positivity wherever they go.
Raise a Hallelujah
In this song, kids are taught to praise and express their faith even in challenging times. It emphasizes the power of lifting one’s voice in triumphant worship to overcome life’s obstacles. Children are encouraged to find strength and hope in their beliefs, no matter the circumstances they face.
Group Worship
This Little Light
In this song, kids are taught to proudly show their goodness and faith to the world, just like letting a small light shine brightly without hiding it. It encourages children to be confident in their beliefs and to spread positivity wherever they go.
Raise a Hallelujah
In this song, kids are taught to praise and express their faith even in challenging times. It emphasizes the power of lifting one’s voice in triumphant worship to overcome life’s obstacles. Children are encouraged to find strength and hope in their beliefs, no matter the circumstances they face.
Opening Activity | Ping Pong Bounce
Objects Needed: Goliath cut-outs (here), ping pong balls
Put the Goliath cut out at the end of one table and have the kids stand on the other side. (use the tabs provided on the cutout to stand the Goliath figures upright.
Give each kid a ping pong ball.
Kids will try to bounce ping pong balls and knock over Goliath. The ping pong ball must bounce at least twice. The first person to knock Goliath over wins.
Object Lesson | Ice and String
Objects Needed: Pan (glass pie pan or baking pan), water, ice cubes, string, and salt
(Put the ice cubes in the pan. Next pour water into the pan until it reaches 1/4th full.)
Let’s pretend this ice is our battles and struggles that we face. There are a lot of struggles in this pan! We all face lots of struggles throughout our life and even every day. What struggles do you face? (let the kid’s list struggles and battles they face).
Let’s pretend this string is us. Can this string alone lift up these struggles and battles? Who would like to try lifting the ice with this string? (allow each child who wants a turn to try lifting the ice with the string).
That was hard! With just the string no one here could lift the ice. I think we need some help!
(Put the string on the ice and pour salt on top. Use enough salt to cover the piece of string touching the ice. Wait a few minutes. During this time ask the children what they think will happen to the string and battles with the ice applied. After a few minutes lift the string and watch how it lifts the ice out of the water.)
Look at that! The string was able to lift the ice with the help of the salt!
It seemed impossible to lift that ice out of the water using only string, didn’t it? Yet, when we added salt, it caused a reaction that made the impossible possible. Sometimes it seems like we are facing an impossible battle or struggle. The string alone could not lift the ice. Just like we alone cannot overcome our battles and struggles. The string needed the salt to help lift the ice. We need God to help us overcome our battles and struggles.
Although it may seem impossible to overcome some battles, nothing is impossible with God!
Lesson Script
1 Samuel 17
Materials Needed: Something to play epic battle music with. A soldier costume.
Play epic battle music as class begins (for example, soundtrack music from a war-themed movie). Wear an “ancient soldier” or Roman soldier costume.
Class, I just received top-secret communication that enemy forces are marching toward our church. We’ll be under attack within 4 hours. So instead of a lesson, we’re going to prepare for battle today.
What’s the last thing you bought?
First, I want you to think hard. What was the last thing you bought, or your parents bought? That’s going to be your weapon. Now let’s make a list of all the weapons we’ll use to defend ourselves.
(Let each student share what object would be their weapon. You can pretend to be very serious and write each object on a whiteboard until the class realizes it’s a joke. Inspired by this post).
(Turn off the epic music)
To be honest, none of those “weapons” would do us much good in battle. Paper plates? What are we supposed to do, give them all paper cuts? (Make jokes about several items).
A long time ago, someone went into battle with a weapon that most people would laugh at. He took on an enemy with something you might use to scare crows away from a garden. How did things go for him? Did the enemy laugh in his face? Was it a miserable defeat? Listen carefully to find out.
(Turn the epic music back on)
The place? Israel? The year? The year I was born. Just kidding, I’m not that old. Let’s just say it happened years ago…like a few thousand.
The good guys?
The Israelites. They believed in God. The bad guys? The Philistines. People who didn’t believe in God and worshiped false gods and statues they made.
The setting? Two hills. Good guys on one, bad guys on the other. There was a large valley between them.
Each side had a champion. The bad guys had a giant named Goliath. He was 9 feet and 4 inches tall. That’s like 2 (or 3, depending on what age you’re teaching) of you guys stacked on top of each other. He wore very heavy armor. It weighed about one hundred twenty-five pounds. That’s more than you guys weigh.
Who did the good guys have as their champion? Oh wait…they didn’t have one. Womp womp. That meant the Philistines really had an advantage. So Goliath came out and shouted, “Nany nany boo boo! You can’t catch me!” And the Israelites shook in fright.
Ok, that’s not what he said. Let’s have one of you read it because I got it all wrong. I didn’t get Goliath’s voice right either.
(Have a student read verses 8-10)
1 Samuel 17:8-10
“Goliath stood and shouted to the Israelite soldiers, “Why have you taken positions for battle? I am a Philistine, and you are Saul’s servants! Choose a man and send him to fight me. If he can fight and kill me, we will be your servants. But if I can kill him, you will be our servants.” Then he said, “Today I stand and dare the army of Israel! Send one of your men to fight me!” (NCV)
Has anyone ever dared you to do something? Maybe you felt like you had to do the dare, even though you didn’t want to. Israel felt like that— backed into a corner.
And this is where the brave king of Israel came forward and said, “I’ll fight Goliath for my people!” NOT. Saul, who was still king even though David had been anointed to become the future king, was shaking in his war boots. Instead of taking on Goliath, he made an announcement that anyone who was willing to fight the giant would get to marry his daughter, a big wad of cash, and would never have to pay taxes again.
Sweet! Except…
no one wanted to do it. They would rather stay single and poor and keep paying taxes than be, well…dead.
That’s when David came on the scene. The young shepherd that Samuel had anointed to be the future king. But he wasn’t there to fight. He was only there because his father had asked him to bring some food to his older brothers. They were there to fight. And they were annoyed to see David. “Go back home to the sheep! You’re just here to catch a glimpse of the battle,” they said.
David hadn’t come to see the battle. But while he was there, he did hear Goliath screaming and mocking. He couldn’t believe no one was stepping forward. Because David saw things from a different perspective. To everyone else, Goliath was big, and they were small.
But David said, “Who does he think he is, speaking against the army of the living God?” That’s right– the Israelites weren’t just an army of “good guys”. They had GOD on their side. The LIVING, ALL-POWERFUL GOD. And David knew that ANYBODY compared to GOD is teensy-weensy. Even Goliath.
So David went to Saul. “I’ll do it,” he said. Saul responded, “You? You’re just a boy. Goliath has been fighting since he was a boy.”
But David insisted. He had killed a lion and a bear before while protecting his sheep. If God protected him from those ferocious creatures, he could do the same against a giant. That’s when Saul said, “Uhh…ok…knock yourself out.” But I bet he figured David would definitely get knocked out.
David didn’t have any armor. So Saul slapped his own bulky armor on him. (Put your “armor” on a small student who is too small for it.)
Yeah…that’s not going to work. David wasn’t even going to be able to move in that garb. So he took it all off. Then he grabbed a weapon he was more used to as a shepherd– a stick, a sling, and 5 smooth stones. I imagine everything groaning and thinking, “Who does this kid think he’s going to fight? Peter Rabbit?”
Goliath took one look at David and laughed at him in disgust. Where’s my Goliath voice reader? Read what Goliath said in verses 43-44.
1 Samuel 17:43-44
“He said, “Do you think I am a dog, that you come at me with a stick?” He used his gods’ names to curse David. He said to David, “Come here. I’ll feed your body to the birds of the air and the wild animals!” (NCV)
Yikes. David had some biting words for Goliath too. He said, “Yeah, you come at me with a sword and two spears. But I come to you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the armies of Israel! He’s going to hand you over to me.”
With that, he ran toward Goliath. He stuck a stone in his sling, swung it around, and WOOSH…BAM! It flew out and struck Goliath right in the forehead. He fell facedown on the ground. Now was David’s chance to strike…but he didn’t have a sword. So he took Goliath’s and chopped off his head.
(Turn off the epic music) Goliath was dead…and there was dead silence. Everyone’s mouths were probably hanging open. And then, the Philistines turned and RAN. They knew it was game over for them now that their champion was dead! The Israelites chased after them. They won the battle!
And what happened to David, the boy that no one thought would have a chance against a giant? Well, King Saul took him to his palace to live. He continued to fight battles and win, not because he was big and strong–but because his GOD was big and strong.
Who’s fighting YOUR battles? Maybe you don’t feel like you’re a “tough” person or a “strong” person. But you don’t have to be! “Giants” are going to come into your life, all life long. You don’t have to fight them alone. The important thing isn’t being tough or strong. The important thing to God is whether you have a heart full of faith like David’s. Will you trust God to fight for you like David did?
(Close in prayer, asking God for faith like David’s)
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Group Game | Shoe Flip
Objects Needed: Large table in the middle of the room, masking tape to make a line to stand behind
This game will test the aim of your “Davids”
Students will stand behind a masking tape line about 10 feet from the table.
Students will untie their shoes and loosen them, but leave them on their feet.
They stand behind the line and try to “kick” their shoe so that it lands on the table.
The first student to get both of his or her shoes on the table wins!
Other students can attempt to knock shoes off the table, as well.
Memory Verse
Sometimes, we get a little bit hung up on our outward appearance. We worry about what we look like, if we’re pretty or strong enough, if we’re smart enough. We worry about how other people view us and whether or not they like us. Often, we think we aren’t “good enough” because we can’t jump the highest or run the fastest. There are a million things that we aren’t perfect at, and if we focus on our outward appearance, we will never feel good enough.
God doesn’t look at our outward appearance. He doesn’t look at what we look like or the things we can do. God looks at our character. He looks at our heart, and who we are inside. He is more concerned with how much we love Him, not with what we do to show it.
1 Samuel 16:7b
"...The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (NIV) "
Small Group Questions
Who were the Israelites fighting against?
The Philistines.
What was David doing when he came to the battle?
Bring food for his brothers.
Who was on the Israelites’ side besides the good men?
God!!
What did King Saul give David when he said he wanted to fight?
He tried to give him armor.
Did David accept the armor King Saul gave him?
No.
While Goliath was coming after David with a sword and two spears what did David say he was coming after Goliath with?
The Lord All-Powerful.
What weapon did David use to kill Goliath?
A sling and a stone.
Where did David hit Goliath that sent him to the ground?
His forehead.
What can we learn from the story of David? Who can help us have victory over our battles?
God!
What are battles that God can help you fight?
(Allow children to answer)
Small Group Activity | Prayer Stones
Objects Needed: Stones (you can find a pack of them at Walmart), sharpies
Give each child 2-3 stones and a sharpie.
Have them write down a prayer request on each sharpie and stick them in a bucket. Kids will take turns pulling a stone out of the bucket (if they pull their own they can put it back).
Have each kid take a turn praying for the request written on their stone.
Instruct kids to take the stones home with them and pray for what’s written on the stone over the week.
Words For This Week
Today’s Scripture: 1 Samuel 17
Memory Verse: The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7b
——————
Today we learned about a small guy who was facing a big giant. He wasn’t the strongest by any means, but God still had a plan for him! God used David’s brains and the skills he already had to defeat the powerful Goliath—because all David really needed was God by his side!
Sometimes, we get hung up on what we look like or what other people think about us. We think that we have to be perfect for others to like us, or we think that we have to do the right things at the right time. But God doesn’t look at our outside appearances. God looks at our hearts. He wants our character to be one that loves and serves Him first and foremost.
Whenever we get down about what we look like or what we can and can’t do, we can remember that God looks past our outward appearances to our hearts, and He loves us for who we are, not what we look like.
Key Thought:
It’s what’s inside that matters most.
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